


the Powered and the Powerless

by sugarboy



Category: Hermitcraft, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Electric shocks, Gen, Human Experimentation, Mentioned Character Death, Night Terrors, Superpowers, Tags TBA, dark themes and topics, powers au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2020-09-25 01:15:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20368225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarboy/pseuds/sugarboy
Summary: In a world where some people have powers and some don’t, things can get much darker than you would have thought.





	1. the beginning of something really unfortunate

**Author's Note:**

> the hermitcraft powers au is an au i made where half of the hermits have powers, while half of them don't. the whole au, and fic, will get super dark, so please pay attention to the warnings and tags as i add more! i will also add trigger warnings at the start of every chapter. 
> 
> find me on my tumblr 'mumboisafk' and search up the tag '#powers au' to see more from the au!
> 
> also join my discord! https://discord.gg/pysqYh8
> 
> (edited by Philosoferre!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Architechs finally notice something is off.

_ GoodTimeWithScar reporting in! _

**And?**

_ I got most’a the stuff from the shoppin’ district, we should be good! _

**Oh good! Did you run into anybody?**

_ Nope, but I’m guessing that the “Sahara” gang are just workin’ away. Not sure ‘bout any of the others! _

**We’ll get them eventually. **

_ Kay! Headin’ back now, Cub! _

...

“Iskall! Could you pass me that shulker box?” Grian called out from the top of their half-finished warehouse. He swung his arms-- which currently had wings attached-- to the side. As he did, his silvery wings disappeared in flecks of gold, until they had vanished into thin air completely.

“Got it!” Iskall called out back, holding his arm out. Waves of sparkly green light came from his eye and his hand, and enveloped the shulker box as he picked it up with the magic.

“Jeez, can’t you guys ever stop showing off?” Mumbo pitched in to jokingly complain, smiling lightly as he looked up at Grian, who was standing there, at the very top of the current building they were working on. The three were almost done with the Sahara building, minus all the decorating and redstone.

Although fun, their endless work on it had been hard. The bright sun was pouring down on the structure, almost boiling the hermits to death. And when night would come, the astounding amount of mobs near them was almost deadly. Thankfully, their powers did help a lot, with Iskall doing the job of carrying everything heavy, Grian going into tricky spots, and Mumbo… Doing whatever he did.

“Like, Grian, you have shapeshifting, and Iskall has telekinesis, but I’m just stuck with hopping around in computers all day.” Mumbo added, sighing dramatically.

“Aw c’mon Mumbo! That’s useful too! It means you can always fix the problems with our redstone--” Iskall began to comfort, moving over to pat Mumbo’s shoulder, before Grian cut in.

“Aaaand it’s _really_ fun to mess with you when you’re not using your normal body!” Grian responded with a laugh, grabbing some concrete powder from the shulker box and beginning to dust it onto the build.

Mumbo chuckled lightly, smiling over at them and shaking his head lightly before beginning to search through the shulker boxes. A couple of important blocks were missing, and Mumbo was quite sure that none of them wanted to go on another grinding mission.

“We’re running low on a couple things. Mainly redstone, terracotta, and rockets though. We can buy that at the shopping district, probably...” Mumbo noted, looking inside the shulker box, before looking back up. “Who wants to go?”

“Me, me!!” Grian shouted with a grin, raising his hand and jumping up and down like a child.

“Alright, alright,” Mumbo responded with a soft laugh, shutting the shulker box and standing up again.

Grian grinned and hopped off of the building, spinning in midair and transforming into a bird with a puff of golden sparkles. He flew down to the ground in front of Mumbo before transforming back to his human form again, grinning as he did so.

“Showoff,” Mumbo teased with a kind smile, grabbing a couple diamonds from his inventory and handing them over to Grian. “Go ahead and take these, we just need a bit of redstone stuff, along with whatever you need to finish the build.”

“Kay!” Grian chiped, grabbing the diamonds and tossing them into his inventory. He transformed himself into a squirrel before scampering off to let Iskall and Mumbo chat and build away as he went to collect some more materials.

Grian transformed back to his normal form again as he entered one of the shops: “Tek To The Skies.” It had been empty for months, but maybe this time it had finally been restocked. 

“I hope Tango restocked more rockets,” Grian mumbled to himself, entering the shop and looking around inside the tiny, colorful shop. He moved to the firework rocket chest, opening it to see it was empty. But even the diamonds he had seen before were completely gone, as well.

Only empty, just like the couple other times he had checked. Come to think of it, Grian hadn’t seen Tango come into the shop in a long while-- Hell, he hadn’t even seen Tango in a long time at all. That should’ve been normal from somebody with invisibility, but he had never been gone for _so long_.

Shaking away his worry and the sickening feeling in his stomach, Grian left the shop. He glanced around, looking towards Ren’s wood shop and beginning to walk over there instead. He entered the shop, opening the first chest he saw. Empty chest, no wood, no diamonds. Oak wood, acacia wood, birch wood, all gone.

Grian left the shop, sighing nervously. Ren’s shop was usually stocked with at least one kind of wood, and if it wasn’t, he’d expect there to at least be diamonds. Hell, the prices in the chest had even been taken as well.

Something definitely didn’t feel right here. It hadn’t felt right for so long, but he’d been trying to deny it.. As the Architech team had been working for days on end, they had  _ never _ seen anybody enter the shopping district. Not once. Iskall ran into Scar once, and even then, it was only for a couple of seconds, and he had refused to talk to Iskall.

A sense of panic came over Grian as he checked another shop, only to find it as vacant and quiet as the last one. Sure, maybe it was nothing, but he  _ had _ to check. There had to be one store stocked, one person at their base,  _ something _ . Maybe he was just being paranoid, but it would be better to check than to brush it off again.

Grian walked into another shop, Stress’ ice shop. Empty chests, no diamonds or ice to be found. Xisuma’s shops? Empty. Even all the villagers were taken from Impulse’s iTrade shop. Everything felt hollow and abandoned, everywhere that Grian looked. 

“Why is there nothing..?” Grian mumbled, beginning to pace through the paths of the shopping district, his movements quick and panicked. “Everything’s just gone, it doesn’t make any sense…”

“I should go tell the others,” Grian suddenly decided, taking off into a run and jumping off the hill, transforming into a bird-- A red parrot to be exact. He flew into the air, quickly making his way back to where Sahara was being built.

As he arrived, Grian transformed to his human self in midair, toppling to the ground and rubbing his head. The remaining few feathers faded from his skin, and he stood up to look at the others.

"What a jazzy entrance!" Iskall joked and laughed, hovering in midair with a glow of green, and then slowly placing himself down to walk over to Grian.

"Guys, okay, I might seem crazy but--" Grian began to ramble, before he was cut off by his other friend.

"Wait a second! I can't hear you!" Mumbo's muffled voice came from inside the prototype machine him and Iskall had been creating. Grian glanced to Mumbo's actual body-- Which was limp and resting on a shulker box, his eyes showing only a glitchy pattern. Suddenly, they snapped back to normal, and Mumbo sat up.

"Sorry 'bout that! There were problems in the machine, and I had to check them out." Mumbo explained, brushing a stray strand of hair away from his face.

"Oh, that’s fine! But as I was saying, the shopping district just seems--" Grian started to speak, before just being cut off yet again.

"Wait, wait, quickly, Mumbo, did you find anything out?" Iskall asked, quickly turning to Mumbo.

"Oh, yeah! Basically the problem was that the--" Mumbo almost went onto a tangent, before stopping as Grian stepped in.

"Everybody is gone!" Grian shouted, a tremble in his voice as he glared at the other two, who had went silent and were in shock.

"What do you mean?" Mumbo asked, worry in his voice as he turned to face Grian.

"What I mean is that there's nothing left. There's nobody." Grian explained, before beginning to pace as he spoke in more detail. "Nothing in the chests of the shops, not even the prices. We haven't seen anybody pass by, either, and even the villagers in Impule's shop or that one trident guy… They're all gone. Disappeared."

"Really? I never noticed anything unstocked." Iskall spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about it. "I mean, it has been kinda quiet, but I don't think it's too bad."

"Grian has a point." Mumbo shrugged, twirling a redstone torch in his hand as he spoke. "I haven't really seen anybody around recently, and even the stores that get restocked the fastest have been out for a while."

"I mean, if you guys really think something is up, then whatever, but what are we even gonna do about it?" Iskall asked, clearly still a little skeptical.

"We could always check everybody's bases." Grian spoke up. "Maybe we go check Stress' base first, since you live close by her, Iskall." 

"Sure, why not." Iskall shrugged, beginning to put some of the stuff from his inventory into a shulker box. "I could use a bit of an adventure after working so hard."

The three cleaned up their workspace a little bit, before taking up into the air. Grian had given himself wings to fly, Iskall had made himself float, and then Mumbo.. Just had to just use the good ol’ rocket and elytra. 

As soon as they arrived at Stress’ base, they landed on the stone of her castle, Iskall instantly looking around and walking away from the others. The wind was heavy, causing a whistle as it brushed through the halls of the castle. Their footsteps and the howl of the wind was the only thing that broke the silence.

Unlike usual, the stone of the castle felt warm, despite being in an ice biome that held the only hermit with ice powers. The walls of the castle were dry as well, even though they had been usually covered in a thin layer of ice. It seems as if all the ice had melted onto puddles on the ground.

“I don’t think she’s here!” Iskall called out, wandering through the rooms Stress would usually be in, if she was there. Every room, warmer than usual, and completely devoid of any ice.

“Let’s just keep looking a bit!” Grian yelled back from another hallway, somewhere else in the castle.

Rolling his eyes, Iskall kept wandering around. He entered Stress’ storage room, looking inside. Same as before, with no ice, and puddles on the floor to replace it. The chests were all covered in dust, and when he looked into them, they were completely empty.

“Huh..” Iskall mumbled, looking through a couple more, only to find those empty as well. He knew that there were usually stuff in these chests, but now, they were completely empty. Not even one item was left behind.

After checking the last chest in the room to find it empty, Iskall made his way back to the others, an extremely worried expression on his face.

“Did you find anything?” Mumbo asked upon seeing Iskall walk back to them.

“The chests, they’re all empty, plus everything is just.. Dusty. And she usually keeps ice on the walls and all around, but clearly there isn’t any.” Iskall replied, rubbing the back of his head anxiously. “I can kinda see why you were worried, now.”

“Yeah..” Grian chimed in, thinking for a moment before speaking again. “...Maybe we can check on Concorp? They should still be running, I would be shocked if everything there was abandoned.”

“Bleh.” Iskall stuck his tongue out, laughing a little. “But, yeah. Let’s try that, I guess.”

Grian nodded and grinned, jumping off the castle balcony as white and brown wings formed on his back, leaving behind sparkles of gold as he flew. Iskall was next, lifting himself up into the air with green light, and beginning to fly himself behind Grian.

“Oh come on.” Mumbo muttered, rolling his eyes as he put on his elytra and took off with his rockets, following the two.

After flying for a little while, the Architechs finally landed onto the soft, grassy ground and walked up to the gates of Concorp.

“What the hell?” Iskall commented, walking to the heavy metal gate. What was usually a small, silly fence gate, was now a complete metal gate. Several layers of security, from cameras to electric fences. Every inch of the place was guarded, with no way to get in, other than what seemed to be a keypad.

“Mumbo?” Iskall asked, turning to face him. “Your help? Sure they won’t mind us popping in for a moment.”

“Oh! Alright!” Mumbo chirped, rushing over. He made eye contact with the keypad, static filling his eyes as he went limp. Iskall, on instinct, carried Mumbo’s AFK body with his powers, keeping him in midair.

Iskall and Grian turned to look at the keypad as they saw a flash of bright light, and then noticed a small version of Mumbo roaming around on the screen. After a couple of seconds, he turned to face them and waved.

“You’re opening the door?” Grian asked, leaning over to look at the tiny Mumbo on the screen, who shook his head in the response, and pointed down to where to press the numbers.

“Huh?” Grian mumbled, clearly confused by the silence and pointing.

“Keypad probably doesn’t have a speaker, Grian,” Iskall responded with a laugh, before turning to Mumbo. “Do you find out the code in?”

Mumbo eagerly nodded, before beginning to show the numbers on his fingers, and Iskall inputting each number as they were given. 8-8-2-9-5-5-4. 

A loud beep rang through their ears, and the gate creaked open slowly. Mumbo’s body jolted awake, and his eyes swung back to their normal color as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes. All three of them looked up, to see the inside of Concorp.

The grass was still littered with sand-- from when they had pranked Concorp-- lazily cleaned up and brushed aside. Most of the lights were shut off, and it was much less taken care of. But lights were still on, quiet noises were heard, and there were recent footprints.

“Better than nothing.” Grian mumbled, glancing over to the other two with him. Nobody said anything about it, but the sickening feeling of anxiety was overbearing in their stomachs. Their eyes darted around nervously as Iskall took a tentative step forward.

“You sure we should be here?” Mumbo mumbled, hugging himself nervously as he followed Iskall deeper into the depths of Concorp. The three made their way to the front door of the main Concorp building, Grian trotting up to the front and knocking.

“Hellooo? Anybody there?” Grian called out, smiling at the other two as he tried to brighten up the situation.

“Grian,” Mumbo scolded for a moment, before Iskall shrugged and cut him off.   
  
“Eh, let's brighten up. Even if they don’t respond, at least we can tell they’ve been here recently. So that’s not too bad.” Iskall rung the doorbell a couple of times, leaning against the door.

“Yeah just..” Mumbo thought for a moment before sighing and letting his anxiety wash away. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s probably fine!”

The three waited in patient silence for a minute. Grian had flopped down to sit on the ground, Mumbo was looking down at the floor curiously, and Iskall was humming a small song to himself. 

“Yeah. This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Iskall broke the silence, moving away from the door. “Where should we go next? I kinda want to find someone.”

“Huh…” Grian stood up, thinking for a second before responding. “Maybe Scar’s base? If Concorp is active..Ish... maybe Scar is there.”

“Or we could, you know, follow that logic and just go  _ into _ Concorp. We’re worried. I’m sure they’ll understand.” Mumbo suggested.

“Yeah, but obviously nobody is here right now.” Grian reasoned. 

“Or y'know, be glad our competition is gone, and look for someone else?” Iskall suggested jokingly.

“Yeah,” Grian laughed lightly. “But we  _ should _ look around here a bit more or something.”

“Okay, but checking someone else’s base is smarter. What if like, Impulse knows what's going on, but we never find out because we were too busy investigating Concorp?” Iskall argued.

“Well, we can always check  _ after _ we check Concorp,” Grian responded.

“Hey, guys?” Mumbo asked.

Grian and Iskall both went quiet, looking up at Mumbo, who had a concerned expression on his face.

“What’s that noise?”

And with Mumbo’s last word, pistons opened up underneath the three, causing them to fall into the unknown depths below.


	2. 5F8, 7ED, C7D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they fell into that hole, they didn't know what they were expecting.
> 
> But it sure wasn't this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the hermitcraft powers au is an au i made where half of the hermits have powers, while half of them don't. the whole au, and fic, will get super dark, so please pay attention to the warnings and tags as i add more! i will also add trigger warnings at the start of every chapter. 
> 
> find me on my tumblr 'mumboisafk' and search up the tag '#powers au' to see more from the au!
> 
> also join my discord! https://discord.gg/pysqYh8
> 
> (edited by Philosoferre, and chapter name was chosen by her, too!)

**Grian, MumboJumbo, and Iskall85 have all been captured.**

_ ‘Bout time! _

**I’ll deal with them, just get everything prepared.**

_ Alrighty! _

**That’s all, I’ll go down and get things into action--**

_ Wait, Cub? _

**Yes?**

_ N’body can hear these transmissions.. Right? _

**Of course not. Now, let’s get ready for our new arrivals.**

...

With a loud  _ thump _ , the three Architechs fell to the ground below. The room was in complete darkness, until they heard a click and a light hiss as light flashed into the room. Every light turned on at once to show the bright, eye-straining white room.

“Where.. Are we?” Iskall mumbled, stumbling to his feet and looking around. Other than an iron door in front of them, and a camera in the corner of the room, it was just an empty white box.

“Dunno.” Grian mumbled, standing up and feeling as he shifted the skin on his arms to be rocklike, an instinct to protect himself.

“Mumbo,” Iskall spoke as he looked up at the corner of the room, where the camera was watching him intently. “Can you jump into that camera and find a way to figure out where we are, and what’s going on?”

“Of course, let me just..—“ Mumbo replied, his eyes going staticy as he began to use his powers.

As if on cue, the iron door in front of them opened with a slam, causing Mumbo to instantly snap back to reality, Iskall to spin towards the door, and Grian to shapeshift more of his skin to stone. All of their eyes were wide with fear and shock.

“Well, well, well… If it isn’t the Architechs.” A voice rang out, Cubfan stepping into the room. He was wearing a black suit with blue highlights, now, along with his regular labcoat. And, of course, the evil grin of a villian.

“Cub?” Iskall asked with a smile and a loud sigh of relief, clearly calming down upon seeing his friend. He let his shoulders rest, and he relaxed a little bit. “Where is everybody? What’s happening?”

“Oh, of course I’ll tell you, but first…” Cub hummed, smirking up at the camera and nodding. In that instant, a wall of glass popped up, separating Cub from the other three hermits.

“Uhh.. What?” Mumbo asked, looking down at where the pistons had pushed up the glass. In his mind, he knew it was quite well done, sophisticated piston door, but just not a good thing in the situation they were in. Meanwhile, Iskall had the normal reaction of confusion and banging lightly at the glass.

“Oh, it’s simple, really. I just would not like you three to try and kill me for what I’m about to say.” Cub grinned. All the Architechs were completely speechless, nervously staying quiet as Cub continued.

“Shocked none of you noticed sooner. The unstocked shops, the busiest of people suddenly going quiet…” Cub explained with a grin, watching as realization flashed on their faces. “We’ve been slowly taking everybody with powers, if you haven’t caught on to that part yet.”   
  
“Now don’t you worry! We aren’t going to  _ hurt _ you, exactly…” Cub continued, dramatically pausing and walking up to the glass, moving to be face-to-face with Iskall through the glass. “Just going to take what should have been given to us in the first place.”

“What the  _ hell _ does that mean?!” Iskall shouted, anger filling him. He couldn’t believe that his friend would do this— And without any seeming shred of guilt or remorse either. “So you’re just going to kidnap your friends and do  _ whatever _ messed up shit to them?!”

“If you would really like to put it in harsh words like that, then fine.” Cub responded casually, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Iskall. 

In a fit of anger and panic, Iskall swung his arms back to smash the glass, giving his friends no time to stop him. Although, instead of the shower of glass he expected, Iskalls arms just banged against the glass, leaving them painful and sore.

“That won’t work, you know.” Cub smugly pointed out as Iskall hissed in pain and held his arms up to his chest. Cub hadn’t even moved back a step, even when Iskall had hit the glass. “It’s unbreakable.”

“I fucking  _ noticed. _ ” Iskall hissed, holding out one of his arms as green flames began to swirl from his eye, suddenly pushing through the glass and enveloping Cub’s neck, throwing him against the wall. Cub’s panic was clear, as his eyes went wide and he grasped at his neck.

Although, almost instantly, the doors opened; distracting Iskall and causing him to lose hold. Ren and Joe both stepped through, letting Cub quickly slip through the door to rush away. Yet again, there wasn’t much time to react before the glass door dropped down again, and Ren grabbed Grian, Joe grabbed Mumbo, while they both held a firm grip on Iskall.

“What the  _ hell _ are you doing?!” Iskall snapped out, trying to squirm away from the firm grasp he was being held in. Ren opened his mouth to apologize, but went quiet. Both of them decided not to speak at all, just focusing on moving the Architechs away before they could have a chance to escape.

Soon enough, Joe let go of Iskall’s wrist and flung open a door, quickly pushing the three into a darkened room. Joe gave them a guilty glance, and then slammed the door shut, letting it automatically lock behind them.

“We have to find a way out,” Grian spoke up, his voice trembling and nervous. He sounded like he was about to cry. His skin had turned almost pale white, and his hair almost seemed like it was floating.

“Don’t.” A voice rang out from behind the three. As they turned around, they stood face-to-face with Doc. But unlike how they had known him before, he now had robotic parts covering one of his eyes, and one of his arms.

“What.. Happened to you?” Iskall asked, narrowing his eyes and gesturing to the robotic parts on Doc’s skin. No answer. Instead, Doc just walked up to Iskall, placing the robotic hand on his head. Iskall had no time to flinch away before Doc’s robotic eye lit up, and they both got shocked. Iskall flinched in pain and stumbled away, while Doc just winced. It was clear he dealt with the feeling too many times to count.

“7ED.” Doc finally spoke again, grabbing a shirt from a small pile of clothes in the room. He used a machine to print on the code he had said onto the shirt, and attached a small mechanic to the collar of the shirt. 

“The fuck does that mean?” Iskall snapped, confused and in pain, still holding his head and curled up in a ball, leaning against the door.

“Just put these on.” Doc responded, yet again refusing to answer Iskall’s question. He tossed Iskall the new clothes-- A white long-sleeved shirt with green trims, ‘7ED’ written near the heart, the Concorp logo on the sleeve, and a small square that looked like light on the collar, with wires underneath. Along with that, he had been given some plain black pants and socks.

Iskall mumbled something to himself, curling up in the corner. He hesitated for a moment before putting on the clothes-- As much as he didn’t want to, the clothes he was wearing were already ripped, and he didn’t feel much like fighting back anymore.

While this had all been happening, Grian and Mumbo were both individually trying to find ways to escape. Grian had been trying to shapeshift into a mouse, so he could run and hide easily, but he was much too panicked to focus. He could barely give himself the ears or tail, let alone change his size.

Mumbo, on the other hand, was standing in front of one of the many machines, trying to hack himself in. He was swaying slightly, one eye glitched and the other normal. No matter what he kept trying, he couldn’t connect.

Doc looked over at the two, walking up to Grian first, and doing the same thing he did with Iskall. Robotic hand against Grian’s head, Doc’s eye lit up again and they both got shocked, Grian stumbling away and his skin growing needles like a porcupine.

“5F8.” Doc spoke again, grabbing another set of clothes, the exact same as Iskall’s, but instead with red trims and ‘5F8’ written instead. He handed them over to Grian, who trembled as he put them on.

And lastly, Mumbo, who was still trying to move himself into one of the computers. His powers were clearly failing, as he was panicking and getting shocked due to his own fear. Doc sighed, before walking over and doing the same thing. Robotic hand on his head, eye lights up, and then a painful shock. Although, due to Mumbo’s shocks from his powers, it was ten times more awful for the both of them. 

“C7D..” Doc mumbled, shaking his arm from the pain and noticing as Mumbo collapsed to the ground with a sob. After a couple of moments, Mumbo was tossed a matching outfit, just with dark red trims and the code he was given. Mumbo could barely gather the energy to change into them.

Doc hesitated, glancing up at a camera in the corner of the room, and then hesitantly grabbed a remote from his pocket. He pressed a button, and suddenly all the lights attached to their necks with the shirt switched on. They shone bright blue, and sent a heavy shock to all three of them for a couple of seconds, before the shock faded.

The door slowly opened, showing Joe and Ren again. The Architechs could barely move as they were picked up-- Ren holding Grian, Doc holding Iskall, and Joe holding Mumbo. They were gently carried out of the room, and down more white, brightly lit hallways.

“They alright?” Ren asked quietly, enough that the Powered hermits probably wouldn’t register what he said.

“...I don’t know.” Joe answered apathetically, hiding his worry behind a stoic facade. 

They arrived to another floor, where Doc took out a card, swiping it against a keypad and letting a big set of iron doors open. The room inside, again, was purely white with nothing inside, other than a handful of other smaller rooms with labels like the ones the Architechs were given.

Iskall, Mumbo, and Grian were all tossed in, and then left alone, with the doors shutting behind the other three as they left. It took a moment, but soon enough Iskall had enough strength to sit up and look around the large, barren room.

As he looked around, he noticed someone running towards him-- She was in a similar outfit, with hints of pink and the code “CFA.” She was shivering heavily, hugging herself tightly, clearly freezing to death.

“Stress?” Iskall asked, instantly brightening up a little, although still weak from the pain. He would have been untrusting, but he could tell that she was in the same boat as him.

“Shush, it’s okay..” Stress mumbled, rushing over and sitting down beside Iskall. She let him rest his head against her lap, and gently placed her hand over his forehead, the coldness from her body instantly chilling him and easing his pain. 

“What’s.. What’s going on?” Iskall whispered, his voice hoarse and tired. “ _ Why? _ ”

“Just wait a moment..” Stress responded, giving a pitiful look down at Iskall before moving herself away to help Mumbo and Grian sit up. They were also quite weak, but awake. She sighed quietly and placed a hand against both of their heads. 

“This would have been easier with my powers..” She mumbled to herself as her hands just began to warm up instead of helping Grian and Mumbo cool down. Usually, Stress would have been able to place ice anywhere she wanted just by touching it, but now, she no longer could. 

“Thanks,” Grian mumbled, sighing and scooting away a bit to rest his head in his arms. Mumbo nodded slightly as well, wiping the tears that had been in his eyes.

“Are you guys feeling alright?” Stress asked, her eyes darting between the three. They all looked tired and in pain, but she understood. She had been like that when she was first taken, too.

“Yes, just tell us  _ what just happened. _ ” Iskall hissed, anger seeping through his tired voice. Stress frowned, nodding lightly.

“Concorp is trying to do…  _ Something _ with our powers. Take it away or remove it completely, I don’t know. But… They keep testing us, finding out how powerful we can get, and…” Stress hesitated, before continuing. “How well we can use it against one another.”

“Those fucking  **bastards** !” Iskall snapped, attempting to use his powers. They didn’t work, at all, and in their place was a painful shock that hit his neck. He cried out in pain, curling up onto the ground again.

“Careful, careful, okay?” Stress quickly said, rushing over and gently touching his arm, before turning to the others. “That, too… They’re restricting our powers, so we can’t even use them, no matter how hard we try. They only work when Concorp wants them to…”

Nobody spoke for a couple of moments after that. Iskall was mumbling in pain, and Grian had begun to cry and sob. Stress stood up, waving somebody over. After a few seconds, Xisuma walked over, looking just the same as the rest of them. Same outfit, just with hints of purple and the code “21E”. What was clearly unusual, though, was that he was no longer wearing his iconic helmet. 

“Oh.. They got captured too?” Xisuma mumbled, looking over at Stress with a frown upon noticing the three newcomers. Stress nodded silently in response, and Xisuma cursed, glaring away. “Fuck.”

There was a light ding, and all of them turned to see the source-- Above the doors, where the code would be shown on a little electronic sign, there were three new ones between what seemed to be Stress and Xisuma’s rooms. 5F8, 7ED, C7D.

“Well.. Now that they have rooms, I guess we should bring them there to rest.” Xisuma decided, his voice empty. I mean, without his power of summoning ‘Evil Xisuma’, he had felt extremely empty and lonely. Like some part of him was missing.

“Yeah..” Stress agreed, standing up and walking over to Iskall, kneeling down and holding out a hand to help him out. Instead, Iskall turned away from her and stood up, storming to the room with the ‘7ED’ label above it, and slamming the door behind him.

The room was small, and almost empty. Camera in the corner, chest against the wall, and white bed in the corner. Instantly, Iskall jumped into the bed and fully covered himself with the blanket, curling up into a ball and covering his ears. 

“I hope he’ll be alright…” Stress mumbled, watching Iskall leave with a disheartened look, before moving to help Grian up-- Who clinged onto Stress tightly and sobbed harder. She looked back up at Xisuma as he spoke again.

“None of us will.” Xisuma said, with no emotion in his voice. He paused for a moment before turning back to pick up Mumbo, who had completely zoned out. Xisuma didn’t leave any more time for speaking before carrying Mumbo to his room, and leaving Stress and Grian, alone in the empty, white room.

Stress sighed quietly, holding Grian close and gently rubbing his back. After a moment, she helped him to his room, same as the rest of the ‘bedrooms’. One chest, one bed. With a sad gaze, she placed Grian into the bed and draped a blanket over him before beginning to leave.

“Stress--” Grian sobbed out quietly, shaking and trembling. “What… What will happen to us?”

“I…” Stress hesitated, turning back to Grian. She knew how bad the tests could be. She knew how painful those days alone could be. And she didn’t know when it would ever end. “I don’t know, but I do know we can get through it.”

“And there might even be somebody out there, looking for us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i decided to add notes this time, because theres a couple things i wanna say!
> 
> first off, thank you all so much for your support on last chapter!! both in the comments, on tumblr, and on my discord i have gotten a lot of support! i was never expecting this au to blow up as much as it did, and im so glad that you all like it!
> 
> second off, i wanted to mention that the next two chapters after this won't be abt the architech gang or any of the captured hermits!! so if you have any questions abt those guys pls comment them or send an ask to mumboisafk on tumblr!!!
> 
> again, thank you all so much, and if you have time, please leave a comment! i love hearing what people think of my writing!!! :DD


	3. somebody out there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Biffa and Impulse are determined to keep watch, and save their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the hermitcraft powers au is an au i made where half of the hermits have powers, while half of them don't. the whole au, and fic, will get super dark, so please pay attention to the warnings and tags as i add more! i will also add trigger warnings at the start of every chapter.
> 
> find me on my tumblr 'mumboisafk' and search up the tag '#powers au' to see more from the au!
> 
> also join my discord! https://discord.gg/pysqYh8
> 
> (edited by Philosoferre on AO3 and my friend Thunder!)

_ When we gonna start testin’? _

**Soon enough. Let’s let them heal up enough so that we can use them properly.**

_ Alriiighty! ‘Nd who we gonna start with? Iskall, right? _

**Remember, 7ED. But yes.**

_ Righty, yeah.. And what’re we gonna do ta ‘em? _

**I’m thinking we’ll--**

Biffashutup--

**What?**

_ Thought it came from your end! What ‘as that? _

**...We should speak about this in private.**

...

“God dammit!” Impulse shouted, his yell muffled by the facemask he wore. He slammed down the radio, which he had just turned off, and swung off his headset, sliding both onto the table he was currently sitting at.

“As I was saying... I’m gonna make some food.” Biffa suggested with a guilty smile, leaning against the counter and looking over at Impulse. “Want some?”

“Not right now.” Impulse mumbled, his head in his hands, leaning over the table. “We were  _ so _ close, if only they hadn’t heard us. God, we’re screwed now.”

“Hey, don’t be so down. What if they heard you? They still won’t find us.” Biffa told him, walking over and taking a seat beside Impulse, gently rubbing his back. 

“Yeah, sure, but they’ll know we’re against them, bump up their security, lock up all their radio transmissions--” Impulse began to ramble, his mind going into disaster thinking, coming up with all the worst scenarios.

“Impulse, listen, chill out.” Biffa spoke up, interrupting him. He stood up, grabbing his diamond sword from his inventory and swinging it out. “Why don’t we just go over there and stop Concorp  _ now _ ?”

“No.” Impulse responded, deadpan, and looking up at Biffa with a disappointed gaze before sighing and standing up as well. “We need more intel, we can’t just storm in there, swinging our swords.”

“Well, I want to do  _ something _ . This is getting tiring, doing nothing while you listen to the radio all day, every day.” Biffa complained. “It’s not like it helps much, anyways.”

“Yeah, but...” Impulse paused, sighing and nodding. He put his headset and facemask back on, but leaving his radio on the table. “Alright. Let’s go search around, how about that? We might be able to find out exactly where Concorp is hiding the others.”

“Fiiine.” Biffa sighed heavily, pulling his robotic facemask over his mouth, and adjusting his armour. He readied his sword, walking towards the door and holding it open for Impulse, who left with Biffa following close behind him. 

They walked out into the forested area before them, Biffa casually strolling through the trees while Impulse nervously walked alongside him. The wind brushed past them, and the sun shone down through the leaves. The air was eerily quiet, making the crunch of leaves sound as loud as breaking glass.

“So.. nice day, huh?” Biffa asked after a moment of awkward silence between the two, trying to lighten the situation up a bit.

“Not really.” Impulse grumbled. “I don’t think I’ll be able to connect my radio to their transmissions now. Which means we won’t be able to find out what's happening, and if the others are okay, and…”

“Hey, listen, it’s fine. We’re going to go investigate now, anyways. Maybe we’ll find a radio tower you can connect your radio to or something.” Biffa suggested, shrugging.

“Doubt it.” Impulse mumbled, hurrying up so he was walking in front of Biffa. “I just wish I could have told Grian, Mumbo and Iskall what was happening before they got captured…”

They went quiet again, Biffa deciding to stay quiet as they walked towards the shopping district. Soon enough, the shopping district became visible through the trees, and they stepped onto the untouched pathway.

Impulse quietly stormed off into one of the shops, causing Biffa to sigh and roll his eyes before entering a separate shop. It wasn’t long before the two noticed the emptiness of the shops inside-- Any indication for what was in chests or what prices were was gone, and all stock or diamonds were long gone.

“Ey, Impulse, I think we aren’t gonna find any clues here!” Biffa called out, before walking out onto the path so Impulse could hear him better. “Chest’s empty.”

“That  _ is _ a clue.” Impulse yelled back from the shop he was inside, frantically checking every chest. Nothing, nothing, nothing. He ran out of the shop, passing Biffa on his way out, and darted inside of another.

Meanwhile, Biffa casually strolled behind him, picking a leaf off of one of the trees and twirling it around his fingers. Biffa was extremely calm, especially compared to Impulse’s frantic searching.

Biffa peeked into one of the other shops, only to see it completely dark, and the only noise coming from it was the soft howl of the wind brushing past. He shrugged and walked into the shop where Impulse was kneeling on the floor, looking into an empty double chest.

“It’s like a ghost town here,” Biffa commented with a light laugh, leaning against the doorframe and looking over at Impulse.

“Yeah.” Impulse agreed, standing up and shutting the chest, before turning to face Biffa again. “This is.. Worrying. I don’t know who’s left… What if it’s just us?”

“Us and that ghost over there.” Biffa joked, glancing to the corner of the shop. But when he turned back, he saw Impulse started to cry. “Hey… It’s alright..”

“No its  _ not _ , we lost everybody! We don’t know how to save them, and… What if it’s too late? You don’t even know how bad it is-- What if they’re broken beyond repair?!” Impulse sobbed, hugging himself tightly and shutting his eyes, looking down to hide the tears streaming down his face. Soft sounds left him as he began to shake with every sob.

Biffa seemed shocked as he saw Impulse start to cry-- He had never been very good at comforting people, but he couldn’t just let him cry alone. So despite his doubts, Biffa wrapped Impulse into a tight, comforting hug.

The two stood there, Biffa holding onto Impulse tightly and softly rocking him back and forth, and Impulse letting himself cry, leaning his head against Biffa’s chest and hugging him back. Slowly, the fog in Impulse’s head started to clear and his sobbing died down, until all that was left was a couple small sniffles.

“M’kay...” Impulse murmured, pulling himself away from the hug gently and wiping the tears from his eyes. His cheeks were still red, and his eyes were still puffy, but his breathing had calmed. “I’m alright now. Just… Let’s not talk about this.”

“Alright... I  _ am _ here if you need me, though.” Biffa told him softly, walking out and ruffling Impulse’s hair on the way out, causing Impulse to roll his eyes and fix his hair before following.

“Let’s go check out the building that Iskall, Grian, and Mumbo were working on,” Impulse suggested with a light sigh, beginning to make his way towards Sahara, and glancing back at Biffa as he did.

The two climbed up onto the hill where the building was located, a small breeze brushing past them as they walked up to it. The building was huge-- All made with concrete and terracotta. There were shulker boxes littered around the ground, unfinished parts to the build, and small redstone contraptions that still hadn’t been fixed.

“Looks.. Pretty empty.” Biffa commented, giving a small smile over to Impulse before pulling out his rockets and taking off into the sky-- Landing on top of the roof of the unfinished building. He looked up at the sky, the sun setting and streaking the sky in colors of purple, orange, and red. “It’s pretty, though.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Impulse mumbled, searching through the shulker boxes for any hint or clue. Anything to lead them to know what happened to the three, and how they were caught. He didn’t glance up at Biffa or at the sky at all.

There was a moment of soft silence, only with the noise of the leaves against the wind and the soft opening of the shulker boxes and ruffling of items. Biffa kept looking up at the sky, humming a soft song to himself.

“ _ White spring, raging in the street.. _ ” Biffa softly sung, leaning back slightly and shutting his eyes. “ _ April please, lower your gun.. _ ”

“Didn’t know you sang,” Impulse commented, looking up at Biffa for a moment, a calm smile forming on his face.

“ _ Cold wind, yet branches on the trees... _ ” Biffa kept singing, nodding over to Impulse with a slightly ashamed smirk. He didn’t really sing in front of people, but now just felt like the best time-- if any-- to break out into song just like a musical character. “ _ April please, help me to run. _ ”

As Biffa finished singing, there was a silence between the two. They both stared at each other for only a moment before Impulse shut the shulker box and began to clap energetically, causing Biffa to start laughing.

“It really wasn’t  _ that _ good!” Biffa defended, still laughing softly and nervously brushing a little bit of blonde hair away from his face. 

“Yeah it was!” Impulse responded, laughing lightly as well. He stood up, moving the shulker box out of the way. “Now c’mon, let’s go check out the Concorp Headquarters real quick, before it gets dark.”

“Finally!” Biffa instantly shot up, grabbing his diamond sword out of his inventory and jumping down from the building. Unlike what he expected, his elytra didn’t activate, and he tumbled to the ground, falling straight on his face.

During his fall down, Biffa’s face had scraped against the hard ground, causing a large wound right under one of his eyes, from his cheek to his jaw. He sat up, wincing in pain and laughing lightly. 

“Damn, I hate it when my elytra doesn’t activate.” Biffa commented, placing a hand on his face, where he had been hurt.

“You alright?” Impulse asked, worriedly rushing over to Biffa and kneeling down to sit in front of him, so they were on the same height. 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s not a big deal.” Biffa replied with a shrug, before pulling his hand away from his face and noticing blood. “Or uh.. Maybe not.”

“Here, just let me heal you.” Impulse responded, sighing lightly and pulling off his gloves. He placed both of his hands over Biffa’s wound, responding in Biffa hissing in pain quietly and looking away. Impulse took a deep breath, before bright, lightish red light began to pour from his hands and Biffa’s wound.

The light went bright, and suddenly Biffa’s wound closed up under Impulse’s hands, healing until it looked like he hadn’t been hurt at all. The light slowly faded, leaving only a couple of sparkles to remain in the air as Impulse pulled his hands away.

“I thought your power was lame compared to mine, but… That’s actually really cool.” Biffa told him, standing up and sighing. “I feel a million times better than usual now.”

“Wait,” Impulse cut in, obviously confused. He stood up and put his gloves back on, but still looked up at Biffa with a puzzled expression. “I thought you didn’t have powers.”

“Oh I do, it’s the power to be extra awesome,” Biffa joked, smiling over at Impulse and pulling on his mechanical facemask again. “But seriously, thanks for that.”

“Oh, yeah.” Impulse responded, with a small laugh and eyeroll to replace his confusion. He began to head down the hill and make his way over to Concorp. “No problem, though.”

The two walked over to Concorp, Biffa leading the way this time. The sun was only barely just peeking over the horizon, only a small dust of light keeping them safe. They sped up, soon arriving to the front gates of Concorp and glancing for a way in.

“This place seems.. Heavily guarded.” Biffa sighed heavily. The huge gate in front of them was much too guarded to get in. Unbreakable, unclimbable, and it seemed you couldn’t even fly in, either. He reached to open it, before Impulse quickly pulled him away. 

“It’s electric, you’ll get shocked.” He told Biffa, a worried look on his face. Impulse began to look around, before realizing the fence stopped once connected to one of the buildings. “Let’s go look for another way in.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best.” Biffa replied, backing away from the fence. As the two walked over to the building closeby, the cameras on top of the fence followed them, watching their every move. 

“Maybe we can get in through here,” Biffa commented, pointing to a window. He walked up to it, climbing up the wall a little to look inside. The lights inside were on, and the walls and ceilings all seemed to be a bright white.

“What do you see?” Impulse called out, from below Biffa. He had decided to stay on the ground, while letting Biffa do the work of looking. 

“Nothing much. White halls and bright lights. I’m gonna try and find a way in,” Biffa replied, looking down at Impulse for a moment, before turning back to the window and taking out his sword. He banged it against the window a couple of times, to no avail. With the diamond pickaxe, it was the same thing-- He couldn’t break through.

“Can you not get in?” Impulse asked worriedly, looking around. He had began to get extremely anxious, with the crawling feeling that somebody was watching them. Impulse almost felt like calling the whole thing off, practically about to dart away that moment.

“Why don’t we just knock?” Biffa jokingly asked, glancing back at Impulse. He turned back to the glass and knocked a couple of times, clearly not expecting anything. “Hey there Concorp, it’s me, ya boi--”

Just as Biffa had been speaking, he saw someone round the corner of the hallway inside the building and stare directly at him. With a yelp, Biffa jumped down from the window and grabbed Impulse’s hand, beginning to bolt off as quickly as he could.

“...What?” A voice rang out from behind the window. Joe pressed a hand to the window as he saw Impulse and Biffa run off at the speed of light, away from the Concorp building-- Where he was trapped.


	4. a peek inside concorp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a little peek into what it's like from Concorp's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the hermitcraft powers au is an au i made where half of the hermits have powers, while half of them don't. the whole au, and fic, will get super dark, so please pay attention to the warnings and tags as i add more! i will also add trigger warnings at the start of every chapter.
> 
> find me on my tumblr 'mumboisafk' and search up the tag '#powers au' to see more from the au!
> 
> also join my discord! https://discord.gg/pysqYh8
> 
> (edited by Philosoferre!)

“...What?” Joe yelled out as he noticed a figure at the glass. He rushed down the hallway and up to the window, looking out of it. Through the darkness, he saw Biffa and Impulse running away from the building as fast as they could. Joe rested a little and sighed, backing away from the window and crossing his arms.

Biffa and Impulse; the last two hermits uninvolved. Since the start, they had both found themselves hidden away from it all. Despite Concorp’s constant attempts to find them, they stayed away from it all. Apart from them, every other hermit was captured, working with Concorp, or…

Well... Joe didn’t want to think about it.

Either way, now Biffa and Impulse were the enemy. Joe had to remind himself of that— They were the enemy, he was in the right, he was good and they were bad, it was going to be alright, he was in the right, they were wrong… No. No, He was wrong; Joe thought to himself as he moved away from the window. What they were doing was _ horrible _ . He _ should _ turn, he _ should _ save his friends. 

And despite this, Joe found himself automatically walking up to Cubfan’s office. No matter how wrong this all felt, he couldn’t stop his legs from moving. No matter how much he didn’t want to, he had to tell Cub what he had seen. A sickening feeling entered Joe’s stomach as the elevator brought him up, all the way to the top floor of the building.

The doors cracked open, and instead of the bright white light Joe had grown accustomed to, a soft blue light filled his eyesight instead. The walls seemed to be made with dark oak and quartz, and the whole room was extremely well-decorated. A desk facing the elevator, several little trinkets and decorations, and no bright lights and pure white walls and floors like everywhere else. Lucky bastards.

Meanwhile, Joe and the others who worked at Concorp were stuck with nothing. Blank walls and fluorescent lights, nothing else. Sure, it was more than what the Powered had— At least they had furnished rooms and a tiny bit of freedom at times… But just like the Powered, they were practically trapped in a cage while Cub and Scar, _ lucky bastards _, got everything they desired.

“Sir,” Joe called out into the room, hatred at his own words pricking in the back of his mind. He looked around for Cub, who seemed to be absent. “We.. Might have a problem.”

“I _ noticed _.” Cub responded as he finally entered the room, looking over at Joe. His steps were loud and his voice was snappy— Which only caused Joe to become more anxious in his presence. 

“Well.. I caught Impulse and Biffa, looking inside through one of the windows.” Joe explained uneasily, taking a tentative step backwards and closer to the elevator. 

“Those two have been a thorn in our side for _ much _ too long.” Cub hissed, beginning to pace around the room. “They’ve hidden from us, hacked into our radios, and now they’ve _ almost broken in. _”

“I, just..--” Joe was taken aback and went silent as Cub suddenly stopped and turned to glare at him. Guilt and fear flooded Joe as he quietly nodded in response, deciding to stay silent for now.

“You just _ what? _ We're supposed to be watching the cameras today, ** _Joe?!_ **” Cub snapped all of the sudden, his loud yell causing Joe to flinch.

“I uh.. I was, I just went to fend them off.” Joe lied, his eyes guilty as he glanced away. He really had no clue they were there until he saw them through the window, but lying currently sounded like the best option... As long as he was careful.

“Next time report into _ me _ and let _ me _ do it, so we can actually capture them.” Cub ordered, his voice so firm that it almost sounded like he was still yelling. “You’re dismissed.”

Joe held back a sigh of relief as he turned and walked back into the elevator, letting the doors shut behind him. He leaned his back against the wall, calming himself down a little. It was always stressful, having to talk to Cub. He had to do everything perfect, everything right. Or else he’d end up like Welsknight. And _ that _, was not a good fate.

Then again, neither was this.

Joe watched as the elevator slowed down, its doors opening to a familiar and sickening bright light once again. He stepped out into the bland hallways, his lab coat just as hauntingly white as everything around him. Just a level below him was where the Powered were kept— The people who were once his friends.

As Joe wandered the hallways, he suddenly heard the soft sound of crying. His head snapped up, and he tried to locate the sound. Of course, that was a common thing to hear now, but usually it came from the Powered hermits, just below. But now, it sounded much too close for it to be from below him.

Maybe one of the Powered had escaped? They weren’t being watched at the moment, anyways. But that was unlikely, and if they had escaped, they wouldn’t be crying. So maybe it was just loud? Or maybe it just sounded closer than it was?

Joe’s confusion was answered seconds later as he passed Docm77— Sitting at a nearby table and crying his eyes out. This was a weird sight to him, especially since most people who work at Concorp aren’t found outside their rooms or work, let alone _ crying_. Especially Doc, who hid himself in his room for every hour of the day, and rarely spoke or showed any emotion.

Despite realizing what it was— One of his friends sobbing— Joe decided not to help, or even look. He didn’t acknowledge it at all. Joe knew he had his own shit to deal with, he wasn’t gonna go through the annoyance of comforting anybody.

Joe used to be a sympathetic soul, sure. Back in the past, Joe would have helped out anybody, comforted anybody, no matter what the cost. What changed? Why did he lose empathy? Why did he go emotionless? Why was Joe now so eager to destroy his own friends lives or leave them to die?

Those answers wouldn’t be answered as Joe entered his own room, and slammed the door shut.

“Doc!” Ren suddenly called out, running past Joe’s room and over to where Doc was sitting. He looked over at him with worry, placing a light hand on his shoulder. Ren had heard the crying, and decided to make sure everything was okay. It didn’t seem to be, at all. “Doc.. What’s wrong?”

“It’s my fault that they’re just.. j-just _ gone. _” Doc sobbed out, wiping the tears from his eyes and jumping at the shock when his robotic hand touched his forehead. At the sudden pain, Doc only began to cry harder.

“Wh—“ Ren began to ask as he sat down on the chair beside Doc. Ren was suddenly cut off as Doc began speaking again, his sharp voice breaking with tears.

“Etho, Beef, BDoubleO… They’re all _ dead _ because of me, only for me to get some powers that don’t work properly and _ fucked me up! _ ” Doc yelled through sobs. “And Wels, fucking… _ Deteriorating _ in front of my eyes! I could have stopped it!”

Ren wanted to respond, but felt speechless. After all, if anything, he had been just ignoring the bad sides of their whole job. He had been ignoring the tears, the screaming, the pain… The deaths. But this-- Doc breaking down right in front of him-- brought him to a jarring reality, so much that he wasn’t sure how to react.

“I lost all my friends for _ this _, to help the people I don’t even know if I can trust anymore!” Doc continued, his voice a little softer, but still lined with soft, broken sobs. “I’m just… Reduced to nothing.”

“You’re not…” Ren mumbled, moving closer and rubbing Doc’s shoulder comfortingly as Doc continued to silently sob and cry. “It’s not your fault.”

“I _ agreed _ to it.” Doc argued, guilt pooling in him and only making him cry even harder. “I let them run those tests, I watched it happen, I didn’t stop it!”

“But you didn’t know how it would turn out. They made it seem better than it is.” Ren mumbled, pausing before pulling Doc into a close hug. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is.” Doc mumbled as he cried against Ren’s shoulder. He went limp, letting Ren hold him tight and gently rub his back. It was so comforting, and yet he felt like he didn’t deserve it. After all, it was _ his _ fault that everyone in the NHO, his best friends, were dead and gone. 

And now, it felt like, him included. The old DocM77, the one who was fun and kind, the one who would never let his friends get hurt… The him that was even just _ morally correct _ was gone forever.

“I’ll just give in…” Doc mumbled as he hugged Ren tighter. He had calmed down a little, his sobbing slowly dying down until it was barely audible. Ren nodded lightly in response, deciding not to speak. He didn’t want to make Doc feel worse by saying anything, but he felt the same. The only option now, really, was just to keep working with Concorp.

(He didn’t want to end up like Wels.)

Ren and Doc stayed there for a moment, holding each other close. They both definitely needed the comfort, after all, happy moments were scarce now. After a couple of seconds, Doc pulled himself away, rubbing his arm and looking away awkwardly.

“I’m going to get back to work.” Doc spoke again, his voice going completely stoic, with only the tiniest crack of a sob. He still felt absolutely horrible, but there was still work to be done, and feelings like these were supposed to be hidden. So, Doc walked off swiftly, wiping away his tears and forcing them not to appear again.

Ren shook away his own sadness, standing up as well and adjusting his suspenders. He walked through the repetitive white halls and staircases before entering a hallway, with one side being a large wall of white glass. Ren peeked inside, his guilt becoming more prevalent as he did.

He could clearly see that inside, Stress and Grian were chatting. Stress was hugging herself for warmth and shivering like crazy, while Grian was curled up into a ball and crying heavily. Stress turned slightly to notice Ren through the windows, and a light glare formed on her once-kind face. 

Ren tried not to react to it as he turned away and walked off, sighing and wiping away the tears that threatened to fall. He hated seeing the pain and sorrow, he really despised it, but he couldn’t fix it. So he didn’t look back. 

Instead, he just walked back up the stairs, down the halls, and to his own room. There, he could go sleep away his thoughts until he had to go guard the Powered again, and feel that familiar heavy, draining guilt.

Right as Ren was about to enter his room, he stopped at the sound of footsteps. Looking up, he noticed Scar, and instantly went still. Scar, of course, was the second leader of this whole operation, alongside Cub.

“Good evenin’ Ren.” Scar greeted with a light smile as he passed the other. He tipped his hat, holding back a chuckle before continuing to walk past.

“You too,” Ren mumbled awkwardly, clearly a little nervous. Sure, Cub was thousands of times scarier upfront, but everybody knew how dangerous Scar could be as well. There was _ something _ behind that kind facade. 

Ren tried to ignore the now-overwhelming anxiety and guilt as he entered his own room, softly shutting the door behind him. Scar, meanwhile, began to walk into the elevator.

Scar strode inside, letting the doors swiftly shut behind him. The elevator took off to the top floor, where he spent most of his time. The bright lights on the floors below were always difficult on his tired eyes. After all, he hadn’t slept in long— And it showed quite obviously with the heavy bags under his eyes.

The elevator soon arrived at the top, it’s doors opening into the comforting area of his and Cub’s office. On this floor, there was also the main security camera room, his and Cub’s bedrooms, a storage room, and one or two other small rooms.

“Ah, Scar. You’re back.” Cub called out, looking up at Scar from his desk and smiling over at him. “Did you report to FalseSymmetry that she needs to get the testing rooms ready?”

“Yes! Should be ready by t’mmorow! Not that hard to do limit tests, either. We’ve done ‘em before!” Scar replied eagerly, walking over to lean against Cub’s desk with a yawn.

“..You should really get more sleep.” Cub commented, looking up at Scar instead of his papers again. “It’s been, what, days?”

“Can’t,” Scar mumbled, his tone going from its usual cheery one, to a soft and quiet one. “I still take naps, though.”

“I mean actual _ sleep _.” Cub responded with a disapproving shake of his head. “If you’re going to be helping me run this operation, you cannot be sleep deprived.”

“...Yeah.” Scar agreed with a defeated sigh, adjusting the black tie he was wearing, along with his white button-up and blue vest. “I’ll try, maybe it’ll be better tonight.”

“Mhm.” Cub hummed with a nod, clearly focusing on his papers again. Scar leaned over to look at them, curiously glancing at what the paperwork said.

**User:** Iskall85

**Legal Name:** Iskall Victor Åttiofem

**Power Identification:** 7ED

**Power Description:** Subject 7ED has telekinetic powers, with a green glow. Further notes will be taken during testing.

**Power Level:** Unknown

**Power Range:** Unknown

**Power Side Effects: **Suspected light-headedness and nosebleeds.

**Subject Personality:** _(Pre-capture)_ 7ED is extremely joking and loyal, tending to play pranks on other hermits. He uses his powers for this and for almost everything else, tending to overuse his powers frequently. More notes will be added during post-capture observation and testing.

**Important Affiliations: **

**Cubfan135** \- Past close friend.

**MumboJumbo** (C7D) - Close friend, Architech.

**Grian** (5F8) - Friend, Architech.

**JoeHillsSays** \- Past friend.

**StressMonster101** (CFA) - Close friend.

“This’ll hopefully be filled out a little more soon. His powers have always seemed the most enticing.” Cub replied with a slight smirk, before looking up at Scar. “Which powers will you want?”

“I… Don’t know.” Scar admitted, looking away to think for a couple of moments. Come to think of it, although powers would be nice, there really weren’t any that particularly stood out to him.

“Take a look.” Cub suggested, handing over a sheet of papers, all info sheets on the Powered hermits. Scar flipped through the pages idly, in thought about which power he would want, if he had to choose any.

“You can have any power. Well… Apart from the ones we can’t get.” Cub added as he watched Scar flip through every page. “Etho’s, BDoubleO’s and Beef’s are sadly… _ gone _.”

“Right, yeah.” Scar mumbled, ignoring the dread in his stomach. He flipped through the pages, trying to think of which power he most desired. Sure, shapeshifting sounded fun, and ice powers would be cool, but… None of the powers mentioned really stood out to him at all.

“Found one?” Cub asked hopefully as Scar handed him back the pile of papers. He grabbed them back and placed them away, before looking back up at Scar for an answer

“Not yet.. I’ll have ta think a bit more on it, maybe.” Scar replied after a pause, casually shrugging in response. For some reason, he just felt like he didn’t even need a power. He always wanted one, but now when he’s presented with the opportunity… He wasn’t sure.

“You don’t have to pick right away, don’t worry.” Cub replied with a small smile, putting the papers into his desk. “After I get my powers, we can figure out which ones you’d like.”

“‘Kay…” Scar mumbled, yawning heavily and covering his mouth. He had only gotten more tired as they spoke, almost about to fall asleep on Cub’s desk, if only he had a pillow.

“You should really go to bed.” Cub commented, looking up at Scar. “It’s been days since you’ve had a proper, eight hour sleep.”

“Naps are good ‘nough.” Scar replied with a small shrug. “I’ll be fine, ‘n stay awake to watch the cameras again tonight.”

“No.” Cub replied firmly, giving Scar a soft glare. “You need proper sleep, Scar.”

“...Alrighty.” Scar sighed, standing up and stretching. He walked over to his bedroom door, opening it and then glancing back at the desk with a weak, tired smile. “Nighty night, Cub.”

“Goodnight, Scar. Please do try to sleep tonight.” Cub replied, watching as Scar moved into his room and softly shut the door behind him.

Scar tossed his hat onto his bedside table, not even bothering to take off any of the fancy clothes he was wearing. He was much too tired for that as he collapsed onto the bed, curling up into a blanket and covering himself completely with it. Maybe if he covered his face, he wouldn’t have nightmares tonight.

As Scar finally began to fall asleep, his hopes were shattered. The instant he began to fall into unconsciousness, flashes of vivid images played in his head, so bright and strong that it hurt. Bright white lights, a high pitched ringing in his ears, lights going from green to blue, loud crying, static shocks against his skin, blood splattering onto the ground…

And on and on it went. The same images, played like a warning signal. Bright lights, flashes that hurt his eyes, crying and tears, static and pain, blood onto the ground, talking and yelling… _ Screaming _. And with this, Scar began to scream and cry in his sleep, loud enough that anybody could hear it.

Usually the screaming came from downstairs.

Usually, only the Powered screamed.


	5. Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little testing won't hurt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finished this chapter MONTHS AGO. i completely forgot that i had written it. and now i am posting it at 6 am without editing it or proof-reading it. i am simply a fool, just an idiot.... anyways this fic is a thing again!

**Limit testing will be done today.**

_ Alllrighty! You gonna handle it, or should I? _

**I’ll handle it for today. But if you’d like to come observe, you may.**

_ Ah, I have other work.. Might take a nap, or somthin’! _

**Didn’t you sleep last night?**

_ Not.. Really. No. _

**Why?**

_ It’s nothin’! I’m sure it’ll be aight. _

**If you say so.**

-

** _Bang!_ **

“Ow, ow! Damn it!”

“Is everything alright?” Grian called out in a panic, pressing his ear against the wall to hear inside the room where he had heard a loud noise. There wasn’t much he could do, anyways. Everybody was just currently stuck in their individual rooms.

“Just  _ fine _ !” Iskall called out from his own, his voice clearly angry and distressed. He hissed in pain as he shook his arm gently. In a fit of anger, he had elbowed the wall— Which only succeeded in causing him more physical pain to go along with his mental pain. Damn, he probably even hit it hard enough that it would leave a pretty nasty bruise later.

“It.. Doesn’t sound like it.” Grian replied softly in response, his voice laced with worry. He couldn’t do much to go over there and help— And even if he could, he was just as upset, and probably couldn't even comfort him properly.

“I’m. Fine!” Iskal yelled out again, another wave of anger washing over him. Again, he slammed his arm against the wall, before yelping out in pain and shaking it. Now it would  _ definitely _ leave a bad bruise.

All the sudden, to interrupt their conversation, Grian, Mumbo, and Iskall all heard a click from the iron doors that had been firmly shut. In front of them, they all saw one of their past friends. Joe at Mumbo’s door, Doc at Iskall’s door, and Ren at Grian’s.

“You fucking  _ asshole _ .” Iskall hissed, glaring harshly over at Doc. No reply, just as expected. Instead, Doc just walked over, grabbing Iskall by the wrists and forcing him out of the room. Looking on either side of himself, he saw that Grian and Mumbo were almost in the exact same situations.

“Let us go!” Iskall snapped, pulling against the hands holding his wrists back. To no avail, though. He was pushed and forced out of the big room, and into one of the neighboring rooms. Mumbo and Grian were thrown inside, with Doc following into the room soon after.

Joe and Ren both stayed outside of the room, though. Positioning himself by the window to look outside, Joe grabbed a notepad and pen, ignoring the sickening feeling in his stomach. He only looked up once he felt a hand on his shoulder-- Ren giving him a glance of comfort, the silent words of ‘I’m so sorry, you can get through this.’, and then leaving shortly after.

Inside the room, there were several machines. Along with that, three glass and metal cylinders, all along the wall, with a few screens and lights attached to them. The three Architechs had been tossed into the room harshly, and the door had now been locked shut. 

“How have you three been holding up?” Cub asked, dragging their attention away from the room, and instead to the figure standing in the middle of it. There Cub was, an evil grin plastered on his face, poisoning what would have been a kind remark.

“Cub.” Iskall hissed out, gripping his fists tightly. Although his voice was quiet, and he  _ seemed _ calm, his anger was clear. Undoubtedly, he could snap any second.

“Yes, hello Iskall. Seems like you’ve been doing just fine and dandy, hm?” Cub mocked, crossing his arms and only grinning wider. “Assuming you’ve enjoyed your time here so far.”

“Oh screw off you traitorous bastard!!” Iskall shouted, flinging his hand forward as he tried to activate his powers. Yet again, like every time, pain like knives shot through his veins before he could even start to use his powers. He fell to the ground, barely holding back tears as he sobbed out a couple words. “I fucking  _ hate _ you…”

Meanwhile, as Iskall and Cub fought, Mumbo and Grian had been handling things much differently. While Grian had been crying, not daring to move, Mumbo started to observe the room around him. There were plenty of electronics, including a computer that was propped up on the desk  _ right beside him _ . That was convenient. Nobody was watching him. And it now seemed like the little blue light on his collar was off. So he could just…

_ Zap! _

“Oh, perfect!” Cub spoke up, his attention instantly switching to Mumbo. He started to stride towards Mumbo, who had been able to get into the computer. Cub connected a wire to the computer, turned up a dial, and suddenly electricity began to pour into the computer.

As the limit testing continued, Joe stood outside, writing down all the conclusions from the various experiments. Although, what had started as normal notes, devolved into its own type of poetry.

** _C7D_ **

_ -Handles 45000 volts _

_ -Able to travel to any electronic _

_ about 10 blocks away or lower _

_ -Hurt by any infliction of pain _

_ On the body he used to reside in _

_ But shows the pain in only electronic form _

_ Unless he chooses to return  _

_ Either way, feels the harm _

_ -Cannot return to body _

_ If it is more than 10 blocks away _

_ Or blocked from his sight _

_ -It is shown that he may _

_ Still show signs of activity _

_ In his ‘AFK’ body _

_ -If his AFK form dies _

_ He will not respawn _

_ But instead of glitched eyes _

_ They go black _

_ And he will not respawn _

_ Until his electrical form _

_ Joins with him again _

** _5F8_ **

_ -Can shift into anything he can think of _

_ Given he is able to keep that thought afloat _

_ -When trapped in a small space _

_ Shifting into something larger _

_ Seems impossible _

_ And if he tries too hard he can, _

_ But he will break through the cage _

_ Or the cage may break him _

_ -Overworked to shift too fast _

_ Will cause him to become exhausted _

_ His body will ache in the places _

_ He forced himself to change _

_ -Bigger forms lead to more pain _

_ More exhaustion in brain and bones _

_ While smaller ones keep him _

_ Mentally stable at least _

_ But the pain is just as bad _

_ If he were to be much bigger than he is _

_ -His health does not change _

_ Nor his weaknesses _

_ Through different forms he is _

_ Still the same _

_ But different to the eyes _

_ Of player and world _

_ -Death results in a complete reset _

_ Of his form, but not his mind nor pain _

** _7ED_ **

_ -<strike>Cub seems excited for this test</strike> _

<strike> _ But that’s no new news _ </strike>

<strike> _ Of course he is, we all know why _ </strike>

<strike> _ Though, an eraser might be nice _ </strike>

<strike> _ It’s not wise for me to look down _ </strike>

<strike> _ On the decisions he makes _ </strike>

<strike> _ And the plans that he creates _ </strike>

_ -He can carry up to 4,000lbs _

_ Although, only 20 objects at a time _

_ Regardless of weight _

_ And going up to those limits _

_ Causes extreme pain _

_ And a heavy nosebleed to occur _

_ -Can move things extremely far _

_ But not farther than his own _

_ Render distance _

_ Even if another person _

_ Has loaded those far chunks _

_ -He can move and pick up players _

_ Including himself _

_ Though the same limits apply _

_ -Overworking of his powers _

_ Ends up in not only _

_ Bleeding from the nose _

_ But worked too far _

_ He goes dizzy until he collapses _

_ -Upon a death _

_ All the levitating things _

_ Will instantly fall _

_ And don’t float again _

_ Even after respawn _

The door opened, and the three Powered were carried out. All of them were limp, tired and collapsed, so it was easy enough for just Ren and Cub to carry them back to their own respective rooms. Joe followed along, flipping through the few pages of half-notes half-poems he had written. 

“Thanks, Joe.” Cub suddenly spoke, grabbing the clipboard from Joe’s hands, flipping through the pages, and walking away without another word.

“Oh- You're welcome!--” Joe began to respond, before just silently watching as Cub left. “Okay. Nevermind then, he left.”

The halls, once again, were empty. Everybody else had rushed off, not wanting to spend much time near where the Powered stayed, lest the guilt sink in. Though, Joe stayed for only a moment, gazing through the glass. His eyes lit up after a second, noticing someone walk out of their room.

Cleo, obviously. Er-- A30. But nobody else was here, it could be just Cleo to him now. She walked out of her room, grabbing her arm off of the floor and reattaching it. Smart, she’d used it to unlock the door. Sadly, Joe knew that once the others noticed what she had done, the door would be given much higher security. 

Joe waved at her, a weak, sad smile on his face. He noticed as she used the hand she’d picked up to wave back, before reattaching it and walking over to him.

“You’re  _ still _ choosing to be on their side?” Cleo’s muffled voice said through the glass, and her eyes just looked.. Empty. Disappointed and hollow. More hollow than a zombie’s should be. 

“I can’t turn against them. It’s.. Too big of a risk. I’m trying to make things better, but I can’t do much.” Joe responded, placing his forehead against the glass. “Wish I could.”

“It’s really hopeless for all of us, isn’t it?” Cleo asked, sorrow in her voice now. “There’s nothing you can do. At all.”

“Nothing that wouldn’t backfire, and nothing that would keep me alive.” Joe replied, the same sadness filling his voice. “There has to be something I can do. I hate this. Almost everybody does.” He paused, looking away. “Sometimes I think even Cub does. But it’s gotten too far to turn back.”

Both of them were just silent. There was nothing to say, nothing to do. After minutes of this sorrowful silence, Joe broke it. He turned, eyes cast to the ground, walking off. The guilt was eating him alive again, and he’d much rather leave than face it upright.

Joe entered the elevator quietly, almost feeling sick as it ascended. His mind grew foggy, and by the time he entered his room, tears had sprouted in his eyes. But there was nothing he could do, not even cry. He held back tears, ignored the pain, and just laid down to sleep.

He definitely wasn’t the only one to fall into rest and be devoured by nightmares that night.


End file.
